Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C09—DYES; PAINTS; POLISHES; NATURAL RESINS; ADHESIVES; COMPOSITIONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; APPLICATIONS OF MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • C09J—ADHESIVES; NON-MECHANICAL ASPECTS OF ADHESIVE PROCESSES IN GENERAL; ADHESIVE PROCESSES NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE; USE OF MATERIALS AS ADHESIVES
  • C09J5/00—Adhesive processes in general; Adhesive processes not provided for elsewhere, e.g. relating to primers
  • C09J5/06—Adhesive processes in general; Adhesive processes not provided for elsewhere, e.g. relating to primers involving heating of the applied adhesive
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C09—DYES; PAINTS; POLISHES; NATURAL RESINS; ADHESIVES; COMPOSITIONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; APPLICATIONS OF MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • C09J—ADHESIVES; NON-MECHANICAL ASPECTS OF ADHESIVE PROCESSES IN GENERAL; ADHESIVE PROCESSES NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE; USE OF MATERIALS AS ADHESIVES
  • C09J5/00—Adhesive processes in general; Adhesive processes not provided for elsewhere, e.g. relating to primers
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T29/00—Metal working
  • Y10T29/49—Method of mechanical manufacture
  • Y10T29/49718—Repairing
  • Y10T29/49732—Repairing by attaching repair preform, e.g., remaking, restoring, or patching
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T29/00—Metal working
  • Y10T29/49—Method of mechanical manufacture
  • Y10T29/49718—Repairing
  • Y10T29/49746—Repairing by applying fluent material, e.g., coating, casting
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10T428/20—Patched hole or depression

Definitions

• This invention is concerned with a method of joining components of a metal structure. Although the method is of general application, it was originally developed to repair pre-formed structures that had been damaged, such as the load-bearing adhesively bonded aluminium metal structures that are increasingly being proposed for use in motor vehicles.
• This invention involves the use of heat-curable adhesives, which can in principle provide stronger adhesive bonds.
• the problem remains of how to apply heat to the adhesive in situ so as to effect a cure.
• Various procedures are available:
• the entire structure can be placed in an oven.
• One difficulty with this is that the structure may be too large to fit in the oven.
• Another difficulty is that this approach necessarily involves heating the whole structure, and the heat may damage other parts which may include, for example, pre-formed adhesive bonds or electrical wiring harnesses or thermoplastic fittings.
• Infra-red radiant heating This technique can supply sufficient heat input to counter the rapid heat loss by conduction.
• a method of joining components of a metal structure comprises applying a heat-curable adhesive between faying surfaces of the components, applying an infra-red absorbing coating to an exterior surface of the structure in the vicinity of the adhesive, and curing the adhesive by applying infra-red radiation to the coated surface.
• the adhesive is cured by means of heat conducted from the coated surface.
• Reflection is reduced, thus avoiding the problems of causing infra-red lamps to overheat and soldered connections to fuse. In general, the longevity of infra-red lamps is guaranteed only if they are kept cool.
• Heat transfer efficiency to the metal underlying the infra-red absorbing coating is improved. As a result, fewer or smaller lamps can be used, with resulting saving in both capital and running costs.
• the invention is of general application. As noted above, the method is however likely to be particularly useful when the components are of aluminium, which term is here used to encompass the pure metal and aluminium-rich alloys.
• the state of the metal surfaces to which the adhesive and the coating are applied are not critical. For example, in the case of aluminium, the surfaces may have been subjected to a pre-treatment such as those described in our European Patent Applications 127343 and 181168. And surfaces so pretreated may have been protected by means of a strippable lacquer, for example as described in our European Patent Application 225691.
• the nature of the adhesive is not critical.
• a number of suitable adhesives are available commercially, such as that marketed under the Trade Mark XB7265 (3M Co. Ltd., Gorseinon, Swansea), which cures at 120° C. after less than one hour. It is easily possible to tell by routine testing whether an adhesive is suitable in a particular environment or not.
• the coating is chosen to absorb infra-red radiation considerably better than the metal surface to which it is applied. It should preferably be formulated to be stable to the heat required to cure the adhesive. Acrylic resins that are thermally stable may be used in formulating a black lacquer so as to ensure that the lacquer can be easily removed with solvent when the repair is complete. Pure acrylic lacquers have the advantage of not decomposing or smoking or evolving noxious fumes at the high surface temperatures involved.
• the coating may be organic applied as a lacquer or as a powder and stoved, or it may be inorganic formed by anodizing and then dyeing with an organic dye or by electrolytic colouring.
• the coating will generally be dark-coloured, so as to increase absorption of radiant heat, but does not need to be precisely black. It may be a lacquer comprising a solution or dispersion of dark-coloured material in a, generally organic, binder. It may be formulated with a matt finish to improve absorption of infra-red radiation. For example, carbon black such as furnace black may be incorporated in an acrylic resin binder.
• the thickness of the coating is not critical, provided that it is effective to increase absorption of infra-red radiation.
• the coating is generally applied only to those surfaces facing the infra-red lamp or lamps which are to be heated; surfaces that are not required to be heated, or that need to be kept relatively cool, are left uncoated.
• the following test demonstrates the temperature difference that can be achieved by applying a black lacquer.
• the test piece was a symmetrical aluminium alloy structure consisting of a 1.6 mm thick "repair patch” covering an adhered 1.6 mm thick "damage area”.
• the adhesive was that sold under the Trade Mark XB7265.
• the left hand side of the repair patch was painted with a black lacquer, the right hand side being in its normal as-rolled finish.
• the lacquer was formulated as follows:
• This lacquer was applied by brush and allowed to dry at room temperature.
• the repair patch was exposed uniformly to infra-red radiation from a 1 kW medium wavelength I.R. tube.
• the area of irradiation was 200 ⁇ 600 mm.
• the temperature of the adhesive layer under the repair patch was monitored with platinum resistance thermocouples, and the equilibrium temperatures were recorded as follows:
• This Example provides comparative data on sets of single lap adhesive joints which were cured in the conventional way in a convecting air oven at 160° C. for thirty minutes, and also at the same temperature for thirty minutes under irradiation from one side only.
• the issue here is that the mechanism of conventional oven heating ensures that the adherend heats up first and heats the adhesive subsequently; at no time does the adhesive have to bond to an adherend which is at a lower temperature than the adhesive itself. Irradiation of an adhesive joint from one side, however, imposes this condition on the adhesive. It warms up by conduction from the irradiated side and then has to heat up the adherend which is not irradiated.
• a damaged vehicle was stretched to shape on a Blackhawk jig.
• the crumpled box-section of the damaged vehicle was cut away. Suitable pieces of aluminium were cut to fit into the box section and span the damaged area. The pieces were fitted in with single pack epoxy adhesive and rivetted.
• the exterior face of the structure corresponding to the repair zone was laquered black. Heat sensitive brake pipes were shielded by foil. The repair was cured for 30 minutes at 150° C. by heating with two 1 kW IR lamps. The repair was fully effective.

Landscapes

• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Adhesives Or Adhesive Processes (AREA)
• Application Of Or Painting With Fluid Materials (AREA)
• Superconductors And Manufacturing Methods Therefor (AREA)
• Lining Or Joining Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)
• Ceramic Products (AREA)
• Materials For Medical Uses (AREA)
• Control Of Motors That Do Not Use Commutators (AREA)
• Crystals, And After-Treatments Of Crystals (AREA)
• Diaphragms For Electromechanical Transducers (AREA)
• Manufacture Of Alloys Or Alloy Compounds (AREA)
• Pressure Welding/Diffusion-Bonding (AREA)
• Nonmetallic Welding Materials (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=10624936

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (15)

Cited By (7)

Families Citing this family (3)

Citations (3)

Family Cites Families (2)

• 1987
  • 1987-10-07 GB GB878723565A patent/GB8723565D0/en active Pending
• 1988
  • 1988-09-29 US US07/250,909 patent/US4892599A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1988-10-03 IN IN843DE1988 patent/IN175803B/en unknown
  • 1988-10-03 AT AT88309156T patent/ATE73476T1/de active
  • 1988-10-03 DE DE8888309156T patent/DE3869038D1/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1988-10-03 CA CA000579094A patent/CA1303827C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1988-10-03 EP EP88309156A patent/EP0311323B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1988-10-04 BR BR8805212A patent/BR8805212A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1988-10-05 MY MYPI88001114A patent/MY103413A/en unknown
  • 1988-10-06 JP JP63252840A patent/JPH01121383A/ja active Pending
  • 1988-10-06 AU AU23467/88A patent/AU602648B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1988-10-06 NO NO88884454A patent/NO884454L/no unknown
  • 1988-10-06 MX MX013321A patent/MX172382B/es unknown
  • 1988-10-07 KR KR1019880013098A patent/KR970005971B1/ko active IP Right Grant
  • 1988-10-07 CN CN88107881A patent/CN1014257B/zh not_active Expired

Patent Citations (3)

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